The Travellers - A Mileven Story
by Usiel21
Summary: In a Universe of Infinite Possibilities there was always one constant. The Travellers were meant to travel alone but when Two Travellers defy this Universal Law, The ATLAS, An Omnipresent Construct attempts to destroy them before their unification has consequences that shatter its hold on the Universe and they learn of who they truly are and the Truth of the ATLAS itself.


**(A/N) This was inspired by the song The Traveller, by NerdOut**

I am a traveller.

And all that lay before me was the stars.

Stars of infinite majesty and complexity in their beauty and the planets that revolved around them in a cosmic dance of balance and worship, intricate in their movement, due to their mere presence in the Universe and I was to bear witness to such a display. Monuments to a gargantuan Universe of which there seemed to be no possible end.

And yet this Universe of unending glory, captivating sight and sheer might was haunted by what seems like an omnipresent force of unrelenting, unforgiving and uncompromising machines only known to the beings of creation as the Sentinels.

These unblinking, emotionless and cold machines wandered every single Planet among the cosmos, their numbers seemingly endless as they occupied every world from the rotting terrain of a Nuclear Decaying World to the lush Verdant worlds and even the fractured dead worlds they were always there. Never faltering, never stopping, never resting and always watching. Always.

They jealously guard the resources of their world and to be caught by a Sentinel doing such a sacrilegious thing like defacing their worlds, all worlds, by taking its resources, killing its creatures and removing rare and exotic substances was enough to invoke the Sentinels wrath.

This was always No Man's Sky... it was theirs.

I do not remember who I am.

I do not remember of what came before or of what will come after.

I have no name.

All that I am is lost in the void of space.

I am a traveller.

And this is my story.

And of hers.

The Ship slipped back into normal space with thundering jolt, the cosmic swirls of hyperspace were replaced by the calm streams of light from the local star, reflected off of the planets that orbited it. A single solitary space station sat motionless some distance away, its blue arch of light beaming from within the hanger, inviting those who wished to enter.

The traveller had come across many of these stations countless amount of times , meeting the three dominant species of life but there was always one that seemed to be missing, others like him, many times he had found himself wandering these stations and amidst the whispers and chatter that followed him.

To see a traveller was a very rare sight even to other travellers, he had never seen another of his kind, only their graves on uncharted systems, in caves on desolate worlds where their pursuit of wonder had led them to a lonely death

Such was the burden of the Travellers.

Always to be alone.

In Birth.

In Life.

And in Death.

_LOG Day #5485. _

_Galaxy Elucid. Star System 8482912140. Designation. Blue Stellar Star. 4 Planets, No orbiting bodies detected. Conflict Levels Nominal. Dominant Sentient Species – Korvax _

_44,871 Light Years from Galactic Centre._

_I have managed to trace the signal back to here, a fractured world. Where the laws of Physics no longer apply due to the fracture, Sentinel Presence is minimal, Another one of their experiments has now fractured another Planet, Life here is dead and the Atmosphere is airless. Toxicity is Zero, Radiation is abnormal at 3 rads per second, Temperature is 15 degrees Celsius._

_He stood atop a large hill where his ship sat, in the distance was a grave marker of another traveller, one that had lost their life in the pursuit of the happiness that the void always seemed to promise. The signal was that of the Travellers barely still functioning conciseness, I shut the marker down where the traveller may now finally rest forever. _

_Warp Cell fuel is low, however there is enough to take me 200 light years closer to the core before I need to make more. I shall proceed in pursuit of a world to call my own, free of the sentinels and their omnipresent constructs. _

_Reaching the core is still my primary goal, though I don't know why but it feels like I have to go there, I wonder if all Travellers feel the same pull as I do, maybe I might meet another of us? The Universe is so amazing, beautiful but it is nothing if I have no one to enjoy it with even for a fleeting moment. _

_The search goes on. Maybe forever._

_End Log. _

He looked up from the ships computer and gazed around him as a Sentinel passed by him, the whirl of its motors within earshot as it spun round in the air and flew within several feet of him, he sighed, exasperated as its main sensor ball lit up and started to catalogue him as so many others had before, satisfied with its scan, it rotated and flew away.

He cast his gaze at its retreating form, resting in the moment, before a beep warned him to the lessening his oxygen in the suit. Casting one look around him again before climbing back into his ship and letting its filters refill his oxygen tanks with clean, fresh oxygen.

The Ship shuddered as it took off from the dead world and he pointed it upwards away into the void of space, into the unknown.

He navigated the Galaxy map to find a new place to jump to when his ship computer altered him to something new in its electronic synthesized female voice.

"WARNING UNKNOWN SHIP APPROACING"

He only managed to look up in time to see a ship roughly the same size as his to appear in the system. He squinted at it, seeing that the markings were not of any species that he knew of, the other ship engaged its thrusters and moved towards him. The console beeped another warning to him as her cannons were apparently charging up a full cycle for combat.

He was taken aback but was not surprised from the seemingly hostile action, many pirates were eager to rob travellers if given the chance due to the rarity of their presence in any star system let alone the many Galaxies

He was not expecting to hear in his wildest dreams what came next.

The other ship was sending a signal to him.

He was hesitant as he slowly pressed the button that would connect him to the other ship. Its red indicator light lit up the cabin in a red hue.

He was expecting an alien language to fill the cabin, demanding his units or precious cargo... not this.

"Hello?" He sat back in the chair in utter shock. No... no way.

It was a female voice and she was speaking in the language of the Traveller. The language of himself. Not a single Alien would ever dare to speak the language of the Traveller, for good reason.

"Hello, is anyone there?" the voice said again

"Are you really real?" he blurted out unexpectedly, his heart was beating so fast that his ships computer shot out a calm warning about his abnormal heart beat but he did not care for it,

There was a uncomfortable pause.

"You... you talk like me..." her voice was laced with shock and disbelief "you speak the same" her voice quivered with emotional uncertainty. "I have been looking for so very long, too long for someone like me, I...i...didn't ever think I was going to find another one of us, another Traveller"

He stared at the computer in shock and awe. This was unheard of, never in the long years from star jumping from one to the next had he encountered another Traveller, someone like him, tears were brimming near his eyes as he couldn't bring himself to speak believing it was not real. The closest he had ever got was hearing from a Gek Miner that a traveller had passed through the system less than a standard day before but in that time they would have been lost to void, he would have never have found the other Traveller.

"Are you still there Traveller?" She asked unsure.

"Yeah..." he replied shakily. " I think we need to meet properly, not planet side though, who knows how the sentinels will react to two of us, they are not exactly fond of us in the first place"

she hummed in agreement "Space Station?" she asked.

"Space station" he affirmed with the tug of a smile on the corner of his lips.

Excitement welled up inside the likes of which he had never felt before. For the first time in known history two Travellers had finally met and not only that but she was also of opposite gender he thought. In their long history of wandering the endless voids of space no-one knew where they came from. All that any Traveller would remember is waking up on some God forsaken world with nothing but their suit, ship and the knowledge to build, maintain and repair the ship as well as flying it and knowing their own unique language.

It was a lonely life.

A lonely Existence.

Not unlike the void they would traverse. Planet to planet. System to system. Galaxy to Galaxy.

The space station loomed ahead, its tractor beam of light shone forth from the hanger, inviting and welcoming to all those who wished to take a break from the endless travels, miners enjoying downtime and traders and cargo ships going from one Star to the next, eking out a meagre living, an honest living.

He piloted his ship into the shaft of emanating light, the tractor beam seized his ship gently and guided it into the inner depths of the station where the landing pads awaited, a huge cargo hauler sped past him out of the station as his ship reached the end of the tunnel and through the oxygen bubble that kept everything inside alive, untouched by the vacuum on the other side. His ship's wing folded up as it's landing gear touched solid ground once more. His ship shuddered as it landed safely on the pad, which spun on its axis to face towards the tunnel entrance ready to let the ship leave with a moments notice.

He watched with baited breath as he watched her ship continue along the same path as his, its hull was tinged in purple with splash of blue across the nose, He noted that her ship's Photon cannons had been upgraded heavily, they seemed to hum as they sat at a full cycle charge.

Her ship landed as gracefully as his did. The canopy opened to reveal her in her spacesuit that was also coloured purple with dashes of red and blue on the gloves and boots.

Her mining tool was smaller than his which was more of a rifle and hers was the size of a pistol meaning her one was strapped to her leg and his was slung across his back.

He felt his breath hitch in his throat as she climbed out of the craft and landed onto the solid metal floor of the station, the canopy closed back up securing the craft.

They moved slowly towards each other. Their visors revealed their faces to other and what he saw made him nearly stop dead in his tracks. She was unbelievably beautiful. Brown eyes starred back at him full of wonder and excitement, her hair cascaded down around her face, perfectly matching the colour of her eyes and her face was without flaw or imperfection.

Other Aliens on the station had ceased whatever task they had been doing noticing that there were not one but two Travellers in the station, there was widespread amazement in the station as not even a whisper could be heard as the two strode up to each other, the first known Travellers to ever meet each other in known existence.

They were merely half a metre apart as they came to a standstill, he tentatively raised his right hand upwards so his palm was flat and facing towards her, she noticed the gestured and did the same with her own palm albeit it was her left hand instead.

They both waited for baited breath as their palms came closer and closer, every second began to feel eternal in the moment, it was almost too much to bear for both of them until the hands touched for the first time.

It was blissful and sent electric shocks coursing through their bodies at the others touch, eyes closed in the moment, savouring every single second of whatever this was, something beautiful to behold.

The first Humans to touch each other in forever.

The body of the ATLAS was comparable to a Rhombohedron drifting through the abyss of space. Its gargantuan structure dominated even the impressive size of the planets that it would orbit somehow dwarfing them in appearance despite being smaller.

On the top of the bottom face of the structure there lay a round hole leading to its inner depths, it emanated a red light, it was almost like an all seeing eye, watching the Universe it was the undisputed ruler of.

The Sentinels were an extension of its Will and Body on every planet and every solar system and it jealously guarded the worlds that it saw as its property.

There was a state of silent war between the Sentient Species of the Universe and itself. Whilst It was omnipresent and omniscience it was far from being omnipotent which within its core matrix it would extrude a sense of bitterness. Travellers whilst safe in its presence would feel almost crushed by the heavy sense of unease and dread.

It was a curious thing that whilst it was Hostile on sight to the Korvax, Gek and Vy'keen Alien species', the Travellers were safe for unknown reasons, the three species would mine the worlds of the ATLAS and the ATLAS would respond with Sentinels or every sort up the monstrous forty foot Sentinel Walkers that could tear apart organic tissues and hardened metals with incredible ease.

The Sentinels were its limbs, the extension of its body along with the many ATLAS stations that were dotted around the Universe. No-one but the Travellers who dared to enter it's tractor beam of Red light would ever have a clue to what was inside. As for the Sentinels themselves no-one knew where they came from, no factories were ever discovered. No, they would just be there, no matter how many were destroyed more would appear, the goal of simply reducing their numbers was a fruitless endeavour as they seemed without end.

The Red Glow emanating from its depths glowed more aggressively as its omnipresent power felt a defiance to its Will. Somehow, somewhere something that it had set in place had been broken.

Two Travellers had met.

And there would never be any escaping from the ATLAS.

Their space flight Helmets lay side by side on the deck. Sitting against the cool hull of his ship. Breathing in the recycled air of the station, it was much better than the air of their suits, being smaller in size their recyclers were not as adapt at making the air fresher, only filtering it enough to be able to breathe even on the most toxic of worlds.

She smiled at him where it died away slightly as a more melancholy mood set in. "You know I never thought I would ever experience something like this" she admitted.

"Neither did I, I feel like i'm dreaming..."

"All these years this is what we were missing out on..." She shyly smiled at him, both had felt an instant connection from the moment they had stepped out of their respective ships, feeling something that neither of them had ever felt before, It was strong, it was intoxication and it was addicting. But as far as they knew they were the only travellers to have ever met.

They wandered the space station together browsing for upgrades to their ships weapon systems, hoping to find something of worth to add to their current range of upgrades and modifications, weapons or otherwise.

A thought suddenly occurred to her as they descended back into the hanger having bought nothing of worth, at least this time. She reached out towards his arm and tugged at it.

"Hey" she said abruptly.

He came to a stop and turned to face her, his brows narrowed in confusion at the tone of her voice.

"Have you thought about what happens next?" she asked

He paused for a moment, her question had taken him by surprise and to his surprise she had a good point, what does happen next? They had only been thinking in the moment both having been blind sided by the other at least for the moment.

"I suppose we keep travelling" He said simply, his gaze turned to look in her eyes with a smile tugging at the corners of his lips "Together"

"Together" she affirmed with a toothy smile of her own

Soon their ships were roaring out of the Hanger at dangerous speeds as their ships were literally launched into Space and the void. Their ships hovered together as he looked at the Galaxy Map. It was one of the biggest of sources of information in the Universe, being able to determine many things about an individual system upon request.

"What about there?" he asked Highlighting the system so she could see it on her own charts

"Hmm I did hear several systems back that one of the Planetary Moons is perfectly capable of sustaining life" She explained.

He hummed in thought "Ok we'll go there then, set course for System MAE11-116..." He trailed off as a Warped disturbance appeared on the edge of local observable space that Indicated the imminent arrival of something coming out of Hyperdrive.

He Gulped as the Moon sized ATLAS station appeared, it sat in front of the Sun almost eclipsing it from view and veiling the ATLAS in shadow, its Red centre glowed bright in anger, as red lines traced the edge of the Stations hull.

He had only been inside once and what he saw had convinced him that he would never want to return again, every time he had gone to a system with an ATLAS station in it he would immediately plot a course into another system, any system as long as it wasnt the one he was currently in.

Never had he seen an ATLAS station appear before him, Normally he would find the nightmare but this time the nightmare had found him.

The Superstructure turned its attention to the Planet that sat near and consequently the only one that happened to exist in the system, its centre eyed glowered menacingly as the Space around its centre eye/entrance began to distort the light around it. It was increasing its Gravitational pull all towards the centre of its red eye, the gravity was so strong it was literally bending the light around it.

"Oh God..." She whispered in horror "it can't..." her hand tried to cover her mouth in reflex but only served to slap against the dome of her spacesuit helmet.

He turned his gaze to the Horror that she was witnessing.

And his jaw fell open in sheer terror of the sight he was witnessing.

The Planet that sat across from them, sitting between them and the ATLAS itself, was being stripped of it s atmosphere, all of the gas and energy was being sucked into the Station by the strong gravitational pull. Lucky for them it was all focused upon the Planet that bore the brunt of the ATLAS' sheer rage.

Unprotected by a Magnetic field or even an Atmosphere everything upon the world began to burn and choke to death, the Sun's ultraviolet rays now unfiltered was starting to strip the world of any Organic matter. The Oceans began to boil and bake, evaporating millions of galleons every second. The ATLAS' gravitational pull began to let up finally as the Planet was reduced to a cinder in mere minutes.

The Space Station in Orbit was spitting out Fighters and Spacecraft from Haulers to Explorers but it was too late to save the Dead Planet, it could only be avenged. But evem after everything the Planet was forced to endure it was not the end yet, the worst was yet to come.

A Seismic Wave was unleashed from the stations eye. All of the Planet's energy and gases being used against it, it was almost instantaneous as the wave travelled at the speed of light. All the two Travellers saw was an explosion of light that threatened to burn out their eyes if their ships hadn't in the same instant deployed a dimmed screen in their cockpits.

As the light died down their faces were etched in painful looks of horror, disgust and fear.

The Planet had been cracked in two, both halves had been reduced to molten slabs of rock which were quickly evaporating in the vacuum of space. Smaller husks of rock floated by

The Planet killer turned its attention to the station, the approaching ships and the Travellers themselves.

The ATLAS would not suffer the Travellers defiance to pass.

Because by being together was against its Will.

And its Will was never disobeyed.

**(A/N) Now this was an Idea I just had to get down and wrote. It had been rattling in my brain for weeks and finally I managed to grind out the first chapter of what was originally meant to be a One-Shot LOL I always seem to get more inspiration and ideas to make a proper story again lol**

**Anyone waiting for The Mark of Cain dont worry that will be updated, its just slow going at the moment but i'll get there. **

**As always guys, Review! And until next time, Peace!**


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